Wednesday, 18 February 2015

First post for a while on this blog but
it's been a hectic few months on a number of fronts, not least the very
welcome distractions of the massive Anti-Water-Charge campaign, and the victory
of Syriza in the Greek elections.

On a personal level, I've changed
occupations, am no longer with the Irish Examiner but now, as an Accredited
Parliamentary Assistant to Luke 'Ming' Flanagan in the European Parliament,
work full-time on the bank-debt issue while also paying close attention to
TTIP, FTT and a few other issues.

TTIP

TTIP is a proposed
treaty euphemistically titled Transatlantic Trade & Investment
Partnership that would have devastating consequences for working conditions,
for food safety, for environmental standards, not to mention the huge potential
for job losses across Europe as the race to the bottom continues.

FTT

FTT is the proposed
Financial Transaction Tax, a relatively tiny tax on only the most toxic
dealings in the various financial services centres. It has the potential to
raise tens of billions annually and so far 11 EU countries have signed up –
Ireland, with Minister Noonan protecting the interests of the IFSC at the cost
of the people, has not.

FISHING

Another priority here is having Ireland's
net contribution (sorry!) to the EU central funds adjusted to reflect the
value of the fish taken from our waters.

There are other issues but above all is the bank-debt.

BALLYHEA SAYS KNOW

On March 6th 2011 a few of us first took to the road in Ballyhea (there is no street, as such, just the main Cork/Limerick road). Every week since then - and joined by Charleville a few months later - we've marched.

The originals - Niall O'Flynn also marched, took this picture

Sunday March 1st we will be entering our fifth
year of continuous weekly protest. As with all previous anniversary dates this
will not be a celebration. It is, however, a significant day and we would like
to mark it as such.

During those last four years we have
consistently stated:

The bank debt is odious debt, should have
been repudiated; this week Ashoka Mody, former mission chief of the IMF
delegation element of the Troika to Ireland, was on national radio and stated,
unequivocally – 'There was a burden of debt that could legitimately
be declared as an odious debt.'

The new FG/Lab coalition government was in a very strong position after
their huge mandate of 2011, should have confronted the EU and its various
institutions on that bank debt, should have confronted the ECB especially on
the €31bn of Promissory Notes, the most odious element of all the bank-debt; in
that same radio interview, the same Ashoka Mody confirmed this view, stated – 'Ireland
had its opportunity. They came in on a mandate very similar to the current
government of Greece, they came in on a promise to do similar things. But as
had become customary in Europe – including in Greece (under the old
governments) – from the moment the new government was formed it felt an
obligation to 'grow up' and 'growing up' in European terminology meant doing
what Berlin and Brussels think is the right thing to do.Ireland fell in with that culture. Ireland
had its opportunity, not just for itself but for Europe; in accepting the
premise that Brussels and Berlin determine economic policy in every country,
Ireland perpetuated a culture that this current Greek government is trying to
break.'

Ministers Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin were both fast out of the box
to attack Mr Mody's assertions and both used the same line – why didn't the IMF
representative take that line at the time? The answer of course is simple –
just as Yanis Varoufakis and his team are doing now on behalf of Greece and its
people, it was YOUR job, Mr Noonan, you and your team, to negotiate as hard as
was possible for Ireland and YOUR people. Mr Mody – in case it may have slipped
your memory – was on the other side of that table. To use a sporting analogy,
it would be like Paul O'Connell stating after last week's win that France
hadn't maximized their opportunities and French coach Philippe Saint-André complaining
that Paul shouldn't have played as hard as he did.

THE PROPAGANDA

Our own media has largely ignored our
protest and for those four years mosthave indulged in government spin – 'This was the best that could have
been achieved, Kenny/Noonan/Gilmore etc did a fine job in difficult
circumstances, the bank-debt is a dead issue, it's all done and dusted, Ireland
has shown the rest of Europe the way ahead and sure aren't we all grand now
again.'

Nonsense, all of it. The 'achievements' of
which this government most often likes to boast were all won by others or are
due to external circumstances.

The 'burning' of junior bondholders was already
well in train from the previous regime;

The reduction in interest rate was on
the back of the second Greek deal which had NOTHING to do with Ireland or its
negotiators, when even the hawks of the EU/ECB could no longer justify the
massive profit it was making from the misery of both Greece and Ireland;

The
current low interest rates are because of the statement in late 2012 by ECB
President Mario Draghi that he would do 'whatever it takes' to backstop the
euro, reinforced by the recent announcement of at least €1.1tn of a
Quantitative Easing programme;

A huge chunk of the reduction in unemployment
numbers – apart altogether from the massaging of the numbers with those in
government schemes and in part-time/low-grade employment – is due to
emigration, the hundreds of thousands who have been forced out of Ireland;

Ah,
there's more,so much more, enough to fill pages, but ye get the drift.

THE DAWNING

There is though a growing awareness within
the media, within the people generally, that we've all been hoodwinked. Even
within the government's own ranks, on the Promissory Note bonds now being held
by the Central Bank, one TD – Labour's Dominic Hannigan – came out a couple of
weeks ago on the Vincent Browne show on TV3 (one of the media heroes of this
period) and suggested that rather than selling them into the markets, the
Central Bank should hold onto the bonds til they mature, or that perhaps the
ECB could just take them over and assume that debt for themselves, thus saving
future generations up to €80bn of debt.

Apologies for the long-winded post but the
reason for it is this – I want people to see that it is NOT too late, that in
fact it is never too late to do the right thing. And the right thing now for
you to do is to join us in this campaign. You could start by coming to
Charleville on March 1st (10.30am, the Library Plaza in the centre
of town) and marching with us on this significant day; you can continue by
joining this campaign.

Ireland is still one of the best places in
the world in which to live and work (if you're lucky enough to have a job). It
has everything going for it – fish-filled rivers, lakes and seas, year-round
growth in some of the best land on the planet, natural assets above and below
ground, wondrous landscapes that continue to amaze millions of tourists from
around the globe. Above all it has its people.

Just as the Greeks will rise when they get
their new deal, just as the Spanish will rise, so will we. But first we get
this unjust burden off our backs.

Saturday, 7 February 2015

This week in a European
Parliament corridor I bumped into Manolis Glezos, the poll-topping Syriza MEP
from Greece.

Manolis is 93, a veteran of the
Greek resistance against the Nazis in the Second World War, was twice sentenced
to death – you can read about him in these twolinks.
Following a short conversation, Manolis has agreed to join us some Sunday on
the weekly Ballyhea protest march.

I ask ye, please go to those
articles and read, learn, understand where exactly the likes of Manolis and his
modern-day successors, Alexis Tsipras and Yanis Varoufakis are coming from.
They don’t just , have history on their side, they have right, they have
justice.

Then think of those politicians
doing what they were elected to do – what they promised to do – and bringing
Greece’s fight to Europe, but being lectured by Enda Kenny on how they SHOULD
be behaving. And ask yourself – who would you want representing you right now?

Syriza are not spoiling for a
fight, they are not the ones being stupidly stubborn; rather they are pointing
out the glaringly obvious, that the austerity measures forced on their country
by the Troika have failed drastically, have proved counter-productive, are
driving Greece into the Dark Ages and need to be radically altered. This should
start with TRUE debt write-down as opposed to the ‘extend and pretend’ measures
adopted to date.

If ever there was a time for
solidarity with Greece, this is it. The weekly Ballyhea Says No protest march
tomorrow (Sunday, February 8th) will offer just that. If you want to
bring a sign supporting Syriza and Greece, do so, please.